Call-number based customer identification method for personalizable internet portals

ABSTRACT

A method of customer identification for personalizable Internet portals is described. The method identifies customers on the basis of the phone number of the calling party, in which the phone number and service request is transmitted from the terminal via the access network to a proxy server, which in turn is responsible for converting the protocol between the access network and Internet, in which depending on the service request, the proxy server inserts a customer ID into the service request and the customer ID is called up by the proxy server from a customer registry based on the MSISDN, so that at the portal the ID can be taken from the service request and the authorization of the customer can be verified through an inquiry sent to the customer registry at which point the service request of the customer is fulfilled.

DESCRIPTION

[0001] 1. Type

[0002] The invention relates to a method for customer identification forpersonalizable Internet portals.

[0003] 2. Prior Art

[0004] In order to provide customers with the simplest means ofaccessing personalizable portal services, a session is laid down on theportal for the duration of the customer's visit. The customer isidentified by a so-called cookie through the transmission of theso-called session. If there is no cookie, the customer's identity isauthenticated by means of a user name and password.

[0005] This method is only secure up to a point, since cookies can bemodified, thereby allowing access to third party data. Theauthentication by means of a user name and password necessary for securecustomer identification is considered annoying and complicated by thecustomer. This is especially true in the cellular radio environment,where only simplified input is possible due to limitations in the mobileterminals. Furthermore, numerous mobile terminals do not support the useof session ID and cookies. Additionally, the transmission of longsession IDs limits the performance of the narrow band carrier servicesthat are common in mobile radios.

Task

[0006] The task of the present invention is to provide the customer withthe possibility of secure and user-friendly identification.

Solution

[0007] The solution is described in claim 1.

SOME ADVANTAGES

[0008] The method of customer identification in accordance with thepresent invention allows secure and user-friendly identification of thecustomer without requiring the additional input of a user name andpassword. It can be used for fixed network access as well as mobileradio access. The following applications are possible:

[0009] WEB/WAB Mail, calendar, address book, collation of personal data

[0010] Personalized portal services (internal/external network operatorswith selected content providers)

[0011] E- and M-commerce

[0012] Mobile banking

[0013] In the customer identification method according to the presentinvention, the phone number is transmitted from the terminal via theaccess network to a so-called proxy server, which is responsible forconverting the protocol between access network and Internet (intranet)protocols. Depending on the service request (HTTP request), the proxyserver inserts a customer ID into the service request. The customer IDis called up from a customer registry (e.g., LDAP) by the proxy serverbased on the MSISDN.

[0014] As an alternative, the MSISDN can also be used directly.

[0015] At the portal, the ID of the service inquiry is extracted and aninquiry is sent to the customer registry to check the customer'sauthorization. If authorization is granted, the service request from thecustomer is fulfilled. This mechanism will be repeated for eachadditional service requested by the customer. During the first servicerequest, an additional session will be established in order to storetemporary data from the customer. The customer ID is used as the sessionID (or alternatively the MSISDN). If there is no further interaction bythe customer, the session will be terminated after a timer has expired.

Other Implementations of the Present Invention

[0016] Other implementations of the present invention are described inclaims 2 to 4.

[0017] The present invention is presented more clearly in thedrawing—part of which is a diagram.

[0018] The characteristics described in the abstract, in the claimssection and in the description section, as well as those that areapparent from the drawing, used individually or in any combination, canbe essential for the implementation of the invention.

1. Method of customer identification for personalizable Internet portalson the basis of the phone number of the calling party (CLR; calling lineID), in which the phone number is transmitted from the terminal via theaccess network to a proxy server, which in turn is responsible forconverting the protocol between the access network and Internet(intranet), in which depending on the service request (HTTP request),the proxy server inserts a customer ID into the service request and thecustomer ID is called up by the proxy server from a customer registrybased on the MSISDN, so that at the portal the ID can be taken from theservice request and the authorization of the customer can be verifiedthrough an inquiry sent to the customer registry at which point theservice request of the customer is fulfilled.
 2. Method according toclaim 1, characterized in that during an initial service request anadditional session is established, whereby data from the customer issaved.
 3. Method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that thecustomer ID or alternatively the MSISDN can be used as a session ID. 4.Method according to claim 1 or on of the following claims, characterizedin that LDAP is used for the customer registry.